47 Iconic Sherlock Holmes Quotes

Sherlock Holmes, the quintessential detective created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, has captivated readers for over a century with his brilliant mind and keen sense of observation. His adventures, full of mystery and intrigue, are peppered with memorable quotes that continue to resonate with fans old and new. Whether it’s his astute observations, dry wit, or profound reflections, Holmes’s words offer insights into the art of deduction and the human condition. In this article, we delve into a curated selection of 47 iconic quotes that encapsulate the essence of Sherlock Holmes, inviting both longtime admirers and newcomers to rediscover the wisdom and charm of this legendary sleuth.

1. “Excellent!" I cried. "Elementary," said he.” - Arthur Conan Doyle

2. “Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself; but talent instantly recognizes genius.” - Arthur Conan Doyle

3. “What you do in this world is a matter of no consequence. The question is what can you make people believe you have done.” - Arthur Conan Doyle

4. “Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of writing lately, I can deduce nothing else.” - Arthur Conan Doyle

5. “I wanted to end the world, but I'll settle for ending yours.” - Arthur Conan Doyle

6. “Do you remember what Darwin says about music? He claims that the power of producing and appreciating it existed among the human race long before the power of speech was arrived at. Perhaps that is why we are so subtly influenced by it. There are vague memories in our souls of those misty centuries when the world was in its childhood.' That's a rather broad idea,' I remarked. One's ideas must be as broad as Nature if they are to interpret Nature,' he answered.” - Arthur Conan Doyle

7. “Now is the dramatic moment of fate, Watson, when you hear a step upon the stair which is walking into your life, and you know not whether for good or ill.” - Arthur Conan Doyle

8. “Am dining at Goldini's Restaurant, Gloucester Road, Kensington. Please come at once and join me there. Bring with you a jemmy, a dark lantern, a chisel, and a revolver. S. H." It was a nice equipment for a respectable citizen to carry through the dim, fog-draped streets.” - Arthur Conan Doyle

9. “The man might have died in a fit; but then the jewels are missing," mused the Inspector, "Ha! I have a theory. These flashes come upon me at times... What do you think of this, Holmes? Sholto was, on his own confession, with his brother last night. The brother died in a fit, on which Sholto walked off the treasure! How's that?""On which the dead man very considerately got up and locked the door on the inside," said Holmes.” - Arthur Conan Doyle

10. “No: I am not tired. I have a curious constitution. I never remember feeling tired by work, though idleness exhausts me completely." ~ Sherlock Holmes” - Arthur Conan Doyle

11. “I am a brain, Watson. The rest of me is a mere appendix.” - Arthur Conan Doyle

12. “My business is that of every other good citizen - to uphold the law.” - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

13. “I'm not a psychopath, I'm a high-functioning sociopath. Do your research.” - Steven Moffat

14. “Y jamás se mostraba tan formidable como después de pasar días enteros en su sillón, sumido en sus improvisaciones y en sus libros antiguos.” - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

15. “I am somewhat exhausted; I wonder how a battery feels when it pours electricity into a non-conductor?” - Arthur Conan Doyle

16. “I say, Watson,’ he whispered, ‘would you be afraid to sleep in the same room as a lunatic, a man with softening of the brain, an idiot whose mind has lost its grip?’‘Not in the least,’ I answered in astonishment.‘Ah, that’s lucky,’ he said, and not another word would he utter that night.” - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

17. “The more outré and grotesque an incident is the more carefully it deserves to be examined.” - Arthur Conan Doyle

18. “To his eyes all seemed beautiful, but to me a tinge of melancholy lay upon the countryside, which bore so clearly the mark of the waning year, Yellow leaves carpeted the lanes and fluttered down upon us as we passed, The rattle of our wheels died away as we drove through drifts of rotting vegetation--sad gifts, as it seemed to me, for Nature to throw before the carriage of the returning heir of the Baskervilles.” - Arthur Conan Doyle

19. “...Holmes, who loathed every form of society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature.” - Arthur Conan Doyle

20. “It's a very cheery thing to come into London by any of these lines which run high and allow you to look down upon the houses like this."I thought he was joking, for the view was sordid enough, but he soon explained himself."Look at those big, isolated clumps of buildings rising up above the slates, like brick islands in a lead-coloured sea.""The board-schools.""Light-houses, my boy! Beacons of the future! Capsules with hundreds of bright little seeds in each, out of which will spring the wiser, better England of the future.” - Arthur Conan Doyle

21. “Tell me about yourself, Miss Russell."I started to give him the obligatory response, first the demurral and then the reluctant flat autobiography, but some slight air of polite inattention in his manner stopped me. Instead, I found myself grinning at him."Why don't you tell me about myself, Mr. Holmes?” - Laurie R. King

22. “Do you know, Watson," said he, "that it is one of the curses of a mind with a turn like mine that I must look at everything with reference to my own special subject. You look at these scattered houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them, and the only thought which comes to me is a feeling of their isolation and of the impunity with which crime may be committed there.” - Arthur Conan Doyle

23. “You know my methods. Apply them.” - Arthur Conan Doyle

24. “You cannot help being a female, and I should be something of a fool were I to discount your talents merely because of their housing.” - Laurie R. King

25. “It's quite exciting," said Sherlock Holmes, with a yawn.” - Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet

26. “I am lost without my Boswell.[Sherlock Holmes on Dr. Watson.]” - Arthur Conan Doyle

27. “If my future were black, it was better surely to face it like a man than to attempt to brighten it by mere will-o’-the-wisps of the imagination.” - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

28. “Dr. Watson's summary list of Sherlock Holmes's strengths and weaknesses:"1. Knowledge of Literature: Nil.2. Knowledge of Philosophy: Nil.3. Knowledge of Astronomy: Nil.4. Knowledge of Politics: Feeble.5. Knowledge of Botany: Variable. Well up in belladonna, opium, and poisons generally. Knows nothing of practical gardening.6. Knowledge of Geology: Practical but limited. Tells at a glance different soils from each other. After walks has shown me splashes upon his trousers, and told me by their colour and consistence in what part of London he had received them.7. Knowledge of Chemistry: Profound.8. Knowledge of Anatomy: Accurate but unsystematic.9. Knowledge of Sensational Literature: Immense. He appears to know every detail of every horror perpetrated in the century.10. Plays the violin well.11. Is an expert singlestick player, boxer, and swordsman.12. Has a good practical knowledge of British law.” - Arthur Conan Doyle

29. “[O]n general principles it is best that I should not leave the country. Scotland Yard feels lonely without me, and it causes an unhealthy excitement among the criminal classes.” - Arthur Conan Doyle

30. “I should prefer that you do not mention my name at all in connection with this case, as I choose to be only associated with those crimes which present some difficulty in their solution.” - Arthur Conan Doyle

31. “It is fortunate for this community that I am not a criminal.” - Arthur Conan Doyle

32. “I do not know whether it came from his own innate depravity or from the promptings of his master, but he was rude enough to set a dog at me. Neither dog nor man liked the look of my stick, however, and the matter fell through. Relations were strained after that, and further inquiries out of the question.” - Arthur Conan Doyle

33. “A man always finds it hard to realize that he may have finally lost a woman's love, however badly he may have treated her.” - Arthur Conan Doyle

34. “To let the brain work without sufficient material is like racing an engine. It racks itself to pieces.” - Arthur Conan Doyle

35. “It is a pity he did not write in pencil. As you have no doubt frequently observed, the impression usually goes through -- a fact which has dissolved many a happy marriage.” - Arthur Conan Doyle

36. “So it was, my dear Watson, that at two o'clock today I found myself in my old armchair in my own old room, and only wishing that I could have seen my old friend Watson in the other chair which he has so often adorned.- Sherlock Holmes.” - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle The Return of Sherlock Holmes

37. “It is only goodness which gives extras, and so I say again that we have much to hope from the flowers.” - Arthur Conan Doyle

38. “What is out of the common is usually a guide rather than a hindrance.” - Arthur Conan Doyle

39. “True deduction can only be obtained through a certain amount of self annihilation.” - Joe Riggs

40. “Moriarty: . . .everything I have to say has already crossed your mind.” - Conan Doyle

41. “Sherlock: You're keeping a SCRAPBOOK. Only old ladies and pre-pubescent girls keep scrapbooks, John.John: It's not a scrapbook, Sherlock. I'm collecting papers relevant to the cases. It helps me remember the details. And it was locked away in my desk drawer.Sherlock: The lock on your desk drawer was insulting me with its pretense at security.” - Guy Adams

42. “It is cocaine," he said, "a seven-per-cent solution. Would youcare to try it?""No, indeed," I answered brusquely. "My constitution has not gotover the Afghan campaign yet. I cannot afford to throw any extrastrain upon it."He smiled at my vehemence. "Perhaps you are right, Watson," hesaid. "I suppose that its influence is physically a bad one. I findit, however, so transcendently stimulating and clarifying to themind that its secondary action is a matter of small moment.” - Arthur Conan Doyle

43. “I give you full credit for the discovery, I crawl, I grovel, my name is Watson, and you need not say what you were just going to say, because I admit it all.” - Dorothy L. Sayers

44. “Gray fall light came through the nine square glass panes. On days like this, the strips of white wood that separated the glass seemed brighter to the eye than did the window light.” - Graham Moore

45. “Amazing, really, to think of what a man could achieve with the simple ability to put pen to paper and spin a decent yarn.” - Graham Moore

46. “I observe that there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is introspective, and I want to introspect.” - Arthur Conan Doyle

47. “But there can be no grave for Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson...Shall they not always live in Baker Street? Are they not there this moment, as one writes? Outside, the hansoms rattle through the rain, and Moriarty plans his latest devilry. Within, the sea-coal flames upon the hearth and Holmes and Watson take their well-won case...So they still live for all that love them well; in a romantic chamber of the heart, in a nostalgic country of the mind, where it is always 1895.” - Vincent Starrett